Many local students will head back to school for at least a half day this week and all will head back for the first full day by Aug. 22. That gives parents very little time to help their students gather important items and get ready to put their noses back into the books.

Local school officials offer many tips for what is at first a tough transition for students from summer fun to pencils and desks.

The followings tips can help parents make the transition a little easier:

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While there are many individuals who have plenty of money to invest, more than a few hesitate to do so because they are unsure of exactly how or where to invest their money.
And while it may seem a logical conclusion that the more money you have the more complicated your investment picture becomes, that is not necessarily the case. Financial investment strategies can still be broken down into simple, easy-to-understand terms.

• Asset allocation — One of the most important elements of a successful financial strategy is proper asset allocation. This refers to the mix of investments you have in your portfolio, and it’s important to keep a good balance of different types of investments — like stocks, bonds and cash, for example — diversified across a range of industry groups or sectors.
Your ultimate financial objectives, the amount of time you have to invest and your own risk tolerance should all be taken into consideration as you decide exactly how to divide up your funds and where to invest them.
Although asset allocation will diversify your portfolio, it will not protect against fluctuating prices or uncertain returns.
• Equity investment strategies — When investing in stocks, a good rule of thumb is to diversify your stock portfolio across a number of sectors; you may also want to overweight industry sectors whose stocks you believe are likely to benefit from the current outlook for the economy. Once you have identified these sectors, you can begin to select specific stocks from within them.
You may want to consider stocks that pay dividends, which can give your investment an added boost.
Another benefit of these stocks is that you can usually reinvest the dividends you earn directly into the purchase of more stock, and many investment firms even have programs that allow you to do so at no cost.

Another good idea is to select companies that have a solid foundation and have the potential to continue to grow over the long term. While it’s not easy to predict the future, the advice of a financial advisor and a little research of your own should enable you to identify companies that have the qualities necessary to meet your long-term objectives.

Generally, you feel better — more confident — when you’re sporting a new look. Sometimes, even the smallest changes can make a big difference in your attitude. Doesn’t your investment plan deserve the same kind of attention? After all, someday it’s going to be taking care of you. Perhaps your portfolio is overweighted in stocks. Maybe you’d like to spice up your portfolio with commodities. Whatever you have in mind, it’s always a good move to regularly review your investments and make decisions about your financial strategies.

Shock. Gasp. Awe. Those were about the only reactions that I had when I was watching a certain report on ESPN. The New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton and General Manager Mickey Loomis are being investigated for enacting a bounty system during the football season. Sad to say that this isn’t the first time that the pair have been accused of this. The first time that this situation was brought up was in 2010.

For those who are staring at the page wondering what exactly the bounty system is, it is simply placing a “price” on the head of opposing players. All that statement means is that players are offered financial incentives to take out other players during games, i.e. vicious late hits or hitting an opponents injured limb, etc.

Last week we discussed some points of history. The topic was simply this. What was the single greatest moment or event in the history of mankind?

We shared some major occurrences that would obviously make some lists. There are major inventions and discoveries: the wheel; electricity; paper; gunpowder and splitting the atom; telegraph and telephone; rail travel; aviation; advances in medicine; computers. There were major discoveries: the New World; travel to the moon and space travel. There were great times of development such as the Renaissance. Man saw the institution of governments in ancient times and the spread of the church due to the Emperor Constantine of Rome.